International Relocation:
The Policy, Process, and Politics
Atlas Global Forum
April 2012
Introductions – Ann Marie Norsk
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Ann Marie is a partner in Deloitte’s Global
Employer Services Practice
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Prior to joining Deloitte , Ann Marie was the
Chicago office Lead Partner for International
Executive Services, Network of Women and
Work Environment Team at KPMG in Chicago.
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Ann Marie has over two decades of experience
delivering global mobility services to
corporations and their international assignees.
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Her experience includes individual advisory,
international assignment policy review, global
individual tax compliance, international
assignment management, global equity and
payroll administration.
Introductions – Sharon Weglowski
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Sharon is a Global Mobility Specialist at Aviva Insurance
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Sharon is responsible for its North American global assignee
program. Aviva is a UK company and the world’s sixth largest
insurance group with 36,000 employees and 43 million
customers in 21 countries.
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Prior to that, she spent most of her career with McDonald’s
Corporation initially in Corporate Tax before moving to HR to
become responsible for McDonald’s global assignee program.
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Sharon is an expert in workforce mobility issues with extensive
experience in the Tax, Accounting, and HR implications
associated with a global workforce and expatriates. She has
consulted on complex compensation and benefit challenges
across corporate functions and countries along with her finance
expertise being utilized on HR projects involving RFPs, BPOs, and
budgeting.
Introductions – Kathy Curtis
• Kathy is a Senior Manager of Global Relocation and
Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Prior to joining Cisco, Kathy was the SR Global
Mobility manager for Flextronics International USA.
Prior to joining Flextronics, Kathy was a partner in
Transition Solutions Group, a consulting/auditing
company working exclusively with corporations.
Kathy was also at GMAC Global Relocation
Services, KPMG LLP and Worldwide Relocation
Manager for Apple Computer.
• Kathy has over 30 years in the global mobility
arena with experience on both the service and
corporate side.
International Relocation: The Policies
International Relocation: The Policies
Domestic vs. International
Domestic Relocation
International Relocation
Mileage Expenses
Shipment of
Household Goods
Destination Services
Storage
Education Expenses
Temporary Living
Auto Transport
Resettlement
Allowance
Cultural Training
Home Sale
Assistance
Language Training
Home Purchase
Assistance
Loss on Sale of Auto
Lease Cancellation
Relocation Allowance
Rent / Utilities
International Relocation: The Policies
The Most Common Types of International Assignments
• Over 1 year on assignment
Long -Term
• Typically 3-5 years
• Typically will have the most robust policy
• Starts at 3 or 6 months or up to 1 year on assignment
Short-Term
• Important to monitor duration of assignment
• Typically will have a scaled down policy
• Indefinite duration
Permanent
Transfer
Short-Term
Business
Traveler
• Similar to a domestic move
• Typically treated as a local employee with some additional benefits to
assist with transition
• Up to 3 or 6 consecutive months
• Typically treated as regular business trips and follow company travel
policies
• Important to monitor travel days
International Relocation: The Policies
Common Policy Provisions for International Assignments
On Assignment
Pre-assignment
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Pre-assignment visit
Destination services
Medical exam
Work permit
Cultural training
• Removal costs
• Temporary
accommodation
• Relocation allowance
• Travel to host location
• Language training
• Storage
• Annual medical
exam/Medical costs
• Bonus/incentive
• Pension
Medical/insurance premiums
Social club membership
Health club membership
Spousal support services
Special awards (anniversary, holiday)
Tax payment
Rental accommodation
Utilities
Transportation
Education
Home leave
Repatriation
Local Benefits
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Post-assignment visit
Repatriation allowance
Travel to home/sequential assignment
Severance/non-compete payments
Outplacement services
International Relocation: The Process
International Relocation: The Process
International Assignment Lifecycle
• Repatriation timing
• Transfer to domestic payroll status
• Assignment plan
• Repatriation initiation
• Assignment compensation / benefits policies
• Home Purchase Assistance
• Tracking repatriated employees
Repatriation/
PostAssignment
Services
Year-End
Compensation
and Tax
Preparation/
Consulting
• Cost Estimates
• Re-entry planning
Assignment
Planning
• Assessment and selection
International
Relocation
• Look-see trip
Assignee
Selection
Policy
Ongoing
Assignment
Administration
Process
Pre-Departure
Services
• Home / host payroll coordination
• Third-party vendor management
• Policy administration
• Assignee and management reporting
• Language Training
Assignment
Start
Payroll
Initiation
• Assignee orientations
• Immigration and visa coordination
• House hunting trip
• Home Sale Assistance
• Cultural Training
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Transfer to international payroll status
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Begin assignment allowances
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Destination services
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Tax entrance meetings
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Country entrance procedures
International Relocation: The Politics
International Relocation: The Politics
Rouge Movers
• Influx of “rouge movers” offering low rates with no in-home visit
• AMSA has worked to establish “ProMover” standards in order to help consumers
Short Term Assignments
• To control costs, increasing use of short term assignments - i.e., less than one year.
• What happens if becomes long term? Housing? Taxes?
Localizations
• Many companies are looking at localizations of expatriate employees as a means of
reducing costs
• Expatriates on assignment for more than 3 years, may be transitioned to a local employee
status, phasing out expatriate benefits
• Permanent transfer assignments are also becoming very common
Home Sale/ Purchase
• Ability to obtain mortgages in host country
• Tax issues – e.g., can have a loss on sale and yet still pay tax due to currency gain
International Relocation: The Politics
Expansion in Asia Pacific
• Challenges across the region
Vietnam
• Imposed penalties on companies that employ illegal foreign workers,
however has done little to deter this from reducing this practice due to the
light fine
• This penalty has been intentionally kept low to avoid driving foreign
investors away
• However, the Vietnam Employment Department is looking to tighten laws
so foreign workers hired only when there are no qualified local candidate
International Relocation: The Politics
Brazil
• World’s 6th largest economy has resulted in the need for skilled workers
• Shortage of qualified professionals estimated to be between 200,000 –
400,000
• Immigrants from the US and Europe to fill the gap
Saudi Arabia
• Began enforcing the fingerprinting of expatriate women in the country
effective March 31st
• First phase of a countrywide effort to register the fingerprints of all
expatriates
• Amongst other goals, this is meant to reduce the illegal overstay of
expatriates
US – Mexico Border
• Private security companies in Texas are reporting an increase in demand
for services from owners of US and Mexican firms who want protection
while traveling to Mexico.
• Mexican citizens that have relocated to escape drug violence in Mexico are
also requesting private security detail.
Questions?
Contact Us
Kathy Curtis
Cisco Systems, Inc.
kacurtis@cisco.com
1-408-823-1625
Ann Marie Norsk
Deloitte LLP
amnorsk@deloitte.com
1-312-486-8485
Sharon Weglowski
Aviva Insurance
sharon.weglowski@avivausa.com
1-312-873-5697